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DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1814399
Automated measurement of pineal gland calcification volumes and sleep quality in adults living in costal Ecuador
Autor*innen
Funding The authors declare that the present study was supported by Universidad Espíritu Santo, Ecuador.
Abstract
Background
Studies on the association between pineal gland calcification (PGC) and non-breathing sleep-related symptoms are inconclusive.
Objective
The present study aims to evaluate this association in middle-aged and older adults living in rural villages located in coastal Ecuador.
Methods
Community-dwellers aged ≥ 40 years enrolled in the Three Villages Study cohort were interviewed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality and received head computed tomography for automated measurement of PGC volumes. Generalized linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the association between PGC volumes (exposure) and the PSQI score and sleep quality (as separate dependent variables), after adjusting for age and sex.
Results
The study included 1,009 participants (mean age: 56.5 ± 12.6 years; 57% women). The mean volume of PGC was 51 ± 53.5 µL. The mean score of the PSQI was 5.3 ± 2.8 points, with 399 (40%) participants having poor sleep quality. Locally-Weighted Scatterplot Smoothing showed a linear relationship between continuous PGC volumes and PSQI scores. An unadjusted generalized linear regression model showed a significant association between PGC volumes stratified in tertiles and the continuous PSQI score. However, this association lost statistical significance after adjustment for age and sex. The association between tertiles of PGC and poor sleep quality was non-significant in both unadjusted and multivariate logistic regression models.
Conclusion
Study results did not find an association between increased PGC and sleep quality after adjusting for demographics, suggesting that PGC may not necessarily indicate pineal dysfunction but could reflect adaptive physiological mechanisms.
Authors' Contributions
Conceptualization: OHDB, PRC; Data curation: RMM, DAR, EEA; Formal analysis: RMM; Funding acquisition: OHDB; Investigation: VP; Methodology: OHDB; Software: VP; Supervision: DAR; Validation: VP; Writing - original draft: OHDB; Writing - review & editing: PRC
Data Availability Statement
Data will be available upon request to the corresponding author.
Editor-in-Chief: Ayrton Roberto Massaro (ORCID: 0000-0002-0487-5299).
Associate Editor: Fernando Morgadinho Santos Coelho (ORCID: 0000-0002-8482-3754).
Publikationsverlauf
Eingereicht: 16. Mai 2025
Angenommen: 13. Oktober 2025
Artikel online veröffentlicht:
25. Januar 2026
© 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua Rego Freitas, 175, loja 1, República, São Paulo, SP, CEP 01220-010, Brazil
Oscar H. Del Brutto, Robertino M. Mera, Emilio E. Arias, Denisse A. Rumbea, Vishal Patel, Pablo R. Castillo. Automated measurement of pineal gland calcification volumes and sleep quality in adults living in costal Ecuador. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2026; 84: s00451814399.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1814399
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